Police responded to the home shortly before 5 p.m. following reports that someone was wielding a rifle on the balcony.

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A report that someone was wielding a rifle in the Northridge area Monday afternoon turned out to be someone toying around, police said.

At least eight squad cars and a police helicopter descended on the home at 4:44 p.m. near Encino Avenue and Nordhoff Street.

But when police arrived to investigate, they discovered that no one had been hit and the suspected assault rifle was actually a toy, Officer Venus Hall of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section told City News Service.

At least four people emerged from the home and were escorted separately by officers to next door yards.

The home is located about half a mile east from the California State University Northridge campus.